Before being switched to become the co-developers of Modern Warfare 3, Sledgehammer Games were already working on a Call of Duty game. This game was announced before Modern Warfare 3 and after Black Ops, however, no details were released. The game was said to be an action-adventure first-person shooter computer/video game. A Call of Duty massively multiplayer online game was also rumored to be in development. Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg later stated that Modern Warfare 3 was not the same title as Sledgehammer Games' action-adventure Call of Duty game. When asked if the action-adventure game was also in development, Hirshberg then stated that the Sledgehammer team was fully focused on Modern Warfare 3 and that their own title had been put on hold.
A new game in the Call of Duty series was to be released in November 2014. It was officially unveiled on May 4, 2014. A video released on May 1, 2014 revealed that Kevin Spacey will portray an antagonist in the game. The trailer leaked ahead of schedule and was therefore officially released, revealing the game to be Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.